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Dino 'Dappy' Contostavlos
Name: Dino 'Dappy' Contostavlos
DOB: 11 June 1987
Birth Place: Camden, London, United Kingdom
Claim to fame: N-Dubz rapper
Star Facts
- Dappy’s dad was in chart-toppers Mungo Jerry, of ‘In the Summertime’ fame
- N-Dubz were originally called Lickle Rinsers Crew
- With Tinchy Stryder, Dappy’s the first act in the UK to get to number 1 with a song called Number 1
- Dappy met his bandmate Fazer at a karate class when he was 9
Dino 'Dappy' Contostavlos ON VIDEO
Biography
Eternally hat-clad grime rapper Dappy grew up in Camden, the son of former Mungo Jerry bass player Byron Contostavlos, who had a massive hit with the classic In the Summertime. Sent to a Catholic all-boys’ school, he was expelled after a year for truancy. Dropping out of school at 15, he later went back to college to earn himself an A* GCSE in English and a B in Music.
Dappy met Richard ‘Fazer’ Rowson at a karate class aged 9 and they started writing songs together. Recruiting his cousin Tulisa to share vocals, N-Dubz was formed in 2000, playing gigs round pubs and clubs in Camden. They’ve since enjoyed eight top-40 hit singles in the UK, reaching number 5 with the hit I Need You. They’ve released two albums to date, their debut reaching number 11 and their follow up reaching number 6.
Dappy’s since gone solo, collaborating with Tinchy Stryder on the track Number 1, which did indeed go to number 1, and his King’s Speech-referencing debut single No Regrets is due out late 2011.
Dappy’s courted his fair share of controversy in his time, caught taking mephodrone, chucked out of Alton Towers for smoking cannabis, sending threatening texts to a woman who slated N-Dubz on the Chris Moyles show, and being arrested twice after threatening passengers on a BA flight and spitting in a girl’s face at a nightclub. Nice.
He has two sons, Gino and Milo, with his ex-girlfriend Kaye Vassell. The couple split in 2011.